State: ACA signups just under 150K

ATLANTA — With the end of the 2014 open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act, Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens released data which represents the number of Georgians who sought health insurance coverage through the Federal Healthcare Marketplace.

“Just under 150,000 individuals will be insured through policies purchased on the Exchange,” Commissioner Hudgens said. “Many Georgians completed the application process by the deadline, but have yet to pay for the coverage.”

The Insurance Department surveyed the five health insurers (Alliant, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana, Kaiser and Peach State) conducting business on the Exchange to determine how many Georgians would be covered by the private health insurance.

The data revealed that as of March 31:

* Insurers received 221,604 applications for insurance.

* Premiums had only been received for 107,581 of those policies, covering 149,465 lives.

* Approximately 104,242 of those individuals will be insured by policies which will receive a federal subsidy.

In 2013, the Department estimated that approximately 400,000 Georgians could lose their current health insurance policy because the policies failed to meet new mandates required by the Affordable Care Act. Although Hudgens encouraged insurers to extend those policies until 2016, it’s unknown how many of the enrollees were forced into the Exchange because of policy cancellations.